More Than Monsters
by Diamond Rogue
Summary: Hiccup was probably the least freshest squid in Inkopolis Square. No skill in Turf War whatsoever. Really, kinda sad to watch. Everything changes for him when he gets the once in a lifetime opportunity to work at Grizzco, but there's more to this new job than meets the eye...


The hip, futuristic theme of Off The Hook's Inkopolis News beat through the ears of anyone listening, as the idols onscreen made their quad-hourly announcements.

"Y'all know what time it is!" Started Pearl, the short pink and white squid MC with the crown.

"It's Off The Hook, coming at you live from Inkopolis Square!" Finished her coworker, bandmate, and best friend Marina, a dark skinned exotic-looking girl with weird teal and black hair.

"Before we begin, we have a special paid advertisement!" Pearl chimed.

"Thats right," Marina added. "Grizzco is now accepting a short series of battle-inexperienced workers for Salmon Run!"

"Even if you're totally unfresh," Pearl blurted, garnering a soft chastising 'Pearlie!' from the girl next to her, "You can get hired on at Grizzco for some experience on the battlefield!"

"That's true, but spots are limited and going fast!" Marina explained.

"So shake a tentacle and get MOVIN', squiddos!" Pearl shouted, jumping up in her plush chair. "This has been a paid ad from Grizzco Industries."

"Now for the stage news..." Marina carried on, but one particularly unfresh inkling boy started tuning her out. A chance. A fighting chance for the losers like him.

His name was Hiccup. A level one nobody not even fresh enough to get into the league-regulated gear shops. The most attention he got was from everyone he knew telling him to stay out of turf war, and that weird lady in the kimono that hangs out in the sewers- who took one look at him and shook her head before heading back down.

He was going to join Grizzco Industries, and no creature from the sea was going to tell him not to.

He just had to get out of the house unnoticed. Not easy in a two-bed townhouse. He slipped on some non-turf-compatible clothes and slightly rearranged his messy green-tipped auburn tentacles. He had made it all the way to the first floor before exactly what he _didn't_ want to happen, happened.

"Are you going somewhere?" Asked the stern, gruff voice of his father. Stoic 'Natural Kraken' was a retired elite league player, infamous for his abnormally huge squid form and dangerous use of heavy artillery on the front lines. His numerous rewards and group photographs of his past teams littered the house. His son, however, not so much.

"Uh... Out?" Hiccup awkwardly tried dodging the question. Emphasis on _tried_.

"And where might 'out' be?" His father goaded. This wasn't going as planned.

"Well I, uh, there's this thing... At..." Hiccup stalled to look for excuses. "Uh... Deca Tower, yeah, it's... Free weapon training?"

"If you're going to weapon training, shouldn't you be wearing league regulated gear?" His father asked, but it clearly wasn't a question.

"Oh, right! How, uh... How silly of me! I'll just go back up and change-" he was cut off by his father's low groan and exasperated hand rubbing his face into his long, auburn-orange tentacle beard.

"Son, i'm giving you one last chance to tell me where you're really going." Stoic spurned. Hiccup sighed and began trying to explain what was going on.

"There's this thing where they're letting inklings that aren't 'fresh enough' go out and work for Grizzco." He prayed his father would understand.

"Hiccup, you know how I feel about Grizzco and sending kids out against those monsters for a quick source of cash."

"But dad-"

"No buts. You're not going. You're too young."

"I'm not a little squid anymore! I should be out there, finding myself, or doing something!" Hiccup pleaded.

"Squids your age are out playing turf wars and engaging in real competition. You've barely used a shooter before, you are in no way ready to take on a salmonid if you can't even get a splat in the field!" Stoic rebutted. He was right. Hiccup had been worthless in so many regular battles that squids had started leaving the lobby if they recognised him, despite the penalty they could face. The few battles he had taken part in didn't go without at least one of his teammates complaining about their back being sore from 'carrying too much'. His father made one last statement to further prove his foot was down. "Inklings in battle are out there to _win,_ Hiccup. Salmonids are out there to _kill_." Stoic then proceeded to watch his son deflate and pointed a finger to send him up to his room, listening for each step Hiccup took.

Back in his room, Hiccup glared at his squid shaped cellphone, Then at the window in his room. He could see the train station into the inner city clearly from his loft, Deca Tower standing tall and proud from a distance against the evening sky. Just another reminder for how useless he was. His grip on his phone tightened.

He needed that job.

Gathering all his wits, he opened the window and looked downwards. Nothing but sidewalk. He grabbed a bag, stuck his phone, housekeys, and wallet in, and climbed up onto the windowsill. If he wanted out of the house past his dad lurking downstairs and on the second floor, this was the only way out. He jumped.

Landing in his humanoid form only to stumble and instinctively turn into a squid might not have been the most graceful, but it worked. Changing back, he ran over to the train station and got on the first train into the square. It was relatively quiet in the metro car he had gotten on despite the constant noise of the tracks, most passengers either on their phones or reading. Hiccup took a moment to think for himself. He didn't even know if there would be any positions left for grabs, or what he'd do if he _did_ get the job, or even what that job entailed. He shook off his negative thoughts as his stop was announced over the intercom.

When he stepped into the square it was getting dark, and more squids were hanging out around town instead of turf battling. Hiccup kept his head down as he briskly walked to Grizzco, hoping nobody recognised him. He made it with minor incident, having slightly tripped over the kimono lady's sewer cover.

Walking into the shady hole in the wall business, there was a cluster of other underleveled squids, and some of them weren't fully of age to start battling competitively. A few waved, and Hiccup waved back as he looked around. There was a slipshod collection of stools, benches, and chairs, most all of them missing legs. He stuck to the walls as he looked for an unoccupied seat when someone called out to him.

"Hey! Greentips! Need somewhere to sit?" Waved a slightly tanned denim colored inkling girl with her tentacles tied up in a bun. Next to her was a dark skinned boy with an odd bulbous bubblegum pink hairstyle. As Hiccup walked closer the girl introduced herself. "My name's Coralillia, but call me Cory! And mister silent sphere here calls himself Eight."

"Yo." Eight said simply.

"I'm Hiccup." He introduced himself as he sat down. "So... What brings you here?" Eight hummed and crossed his arms.

"Same thing everyone's come here for." The boy put bluntly. Cory gently slapped his exposed shoulder.

"He means our stories, ya worm!" She said. "Although I am just here for the cash."

"I'm looking for some fighting experience..." Hiccup admitted. Cory nodded and Eight closed his eyes. Suddenly a bear shaped radio on top of a cooler burst to life with static before a deep rasp broke through.

"Hey kids, how'd ya like to help shape the future of Inkopolis?" It said. Immediately after a few cheers and yells broke through. After it all settled down the voice began talking again. "Welcome to Grizzco Industries. I'm Mr. Grizz." A few quiet murmurs erupted, but Mr. Grizz kept on like nothing was wrong. "We usually only hire the fresh young talent of Inkopolis but due to a few recent _issues_, we're gonna get you lot into shape!" Some other inklings stepped out from the back. A blonde girl with sky blue tipped tentacles, a fidgetty little yellow boy, a tall blue guy toting a heavily modded charger that Hiccup could _swear_ wasn't legal, a purple inkling that Hiccup couldn't really tell the gender of, a pair of blonde squids with orange-tipped tentacles, and a muscley black haired squid boy with an almost acidy yellow-green tint- a face Hiccup _really_ didn't wanna see again. At least not here.

"These overachievers will be your supervisors." As he introduced each inkling, they stepped forward. "Astrid, Gaz, Fishlegs, Ekker, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout. Assuming you filled most of the seats there should be enough of you to get into groups of three plus a supervisor. So DO IT!" As Mr. Grizz shouted the last part, most kids in the room jumped and started trying to organize as fast as inkingly possible. Cory just laughed and held her fists out for fistbumps, which took a bit of egging but eventually happened. Once everyone was in a group the bear radio piped up again. "Each of these overachievers will pick one or two groups to supervise, so no whining!" As he said this, the group of Grizzco employees walked around, silently judging.

The yellow one, Gaz, approached.

"Hey, uh, guys. Wanna j-join team Gaz?" He asked nervously. Before he, Cory, or Eight could answer, Snotlout barged over- just about trampling the little yellow squid.

"Well look who it is, a _weak_-ling! What, tired of being a living losing streak?" Snotlout mocked. Eight raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Grizz said your name was booger-something?" The strange looking boy asked. Before tensions could rise further Hiccup stepped in.

"Guys, meet my cousin, Snotlout." He introduced.

"A-plus rank in every ranked mode, you've probably heard of me." The musclebrained inkling boasted.

"New in town, so, no." Eight sneered. The two boys held a glaring-contest until the sky-tipped girl marched over.

"You're supposed to pick a team to train, Snotlout. Now shove off and pick a team already!" She commanded.

"Sure thing, babe." Snotlout said before walking away, both the girl and Cory gagging.

"Groooooooss!" Cory whined loudly. "How do you even, Astrid?" She asked.

"I don't." Astrid replied coldly. Hiccup winced.

"Sorry about my cousin..." He apologised, rubbing the back of his head.

"Whatever. You'll be seeing a lot more of him if you survive training." The blonde scoffed. "Since you're the last group you're with me." Looking around, Hiccup saw that she was right. Snotlout found a group of girls to terrorize, that tall guy was with a group and explaining how the modded charger worked, Gaz was taken in by two tall guys and an even taller girl, the purple inkling was already exchanging phone numbers with their group, and the two blonde-orange squids found a pair of pink squids and made a group. Everyone but him, Eight, and Cory had an overachiever, until Astrid showed up.

"Well that's convenient!" Cory cheered, shaking Eight by the shoulders and whisper-shouting 'We don't gotta be with booger boy!' Mr. Grizz came onto the radio once more soon after.

"Everyone in a team? Good. For your training each group will go over the basics at the salmonid's spawning grounds. Usually new hires do this alone so consider yourselves lucky." Mr. Grizz barked out the next orders. "The first team to train is team Astrid. So MOVE!"

Hiccup and his group stood and followed Astrid into the back and out the back door, where a minivan was running with a jellyfish behind the wheel. Pulling the door open, Astrid gestured for the group to climb in before following them. She nodded to the driver, and the rusty old vehicle lurched forwards.

Astrid handed each of them a thick packet of papers with small font you'd need a magnifying glass to read properly, and a ballpoint pen with the Grizzco logo stamped on.

"These are your contracts. Read through 'em and sign." Looking at the others, Hiccup shrugged and signed his name along the large dotted line at the very bottom of the last page. They all handed the signed paperwork back and thought nothing more of it.

The ride stopped at a shady dock, and they were ushered out of the van and onto a boat brandishing a giant satellite with the Grizzco logo painted on, Grizzco jingle playing as the dish spun. Eight whispered to Hiccup and Cory.

"Is this hunk of junk under regulation?" Astrid pushed past them and handed them some uniforms.

"Yes, it is. Changing rooms are inside, move it!" She ordered.

After changing and waiting a while, the group finally made it to the Spawning Grounds. Grabbing weapons, changing their ink colors to orange, then super jumping off the boat, Mr. Grizz instructed them from a radio connected to Astrid's uniform as they landed.

"Welcome to salmonid central. Listen up, 'cause once they smell all of you, vicious, unfeeling salmonids are going to come at you from the water. Your job is to splat 'em and collect their power eggs. As a Grizzco Industries employee, you're contractually obligated to collect as many eggs as possible." Hearing splashing from the shore, a salmonid emerged and wriggled onto land followed by a few others. "There's your first targets." Mr. Grizz instructed. Eight and Cory rushed ahead, covering three of them and collecting their eggs before Astrid shoved Hiccup into the fray, helping to deal with the last of them. "Great, now BACK TO WORK! Harvest more of those salmonid eggs!" Grizz crackled through the radio. A cohock and three sets of smallfries came at them soon after, Hiccup easily being overwhelmed and taken down. While Cory and Eight took care of the salmonids, Mr. Grizz spoke up again. "That's another lesson right there. When a teammate gets splatted, his or her life preserver will serve as a spawnpoint. Due to a few... Technical issues, they only activate once hit with a team member's ink." Astrid hit his preserver a few times, and he felt his body ink recondense. "If the whole team goes down, the shift ends early. Be sure to always watch your teams' backs!" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as the overachiever rolled her eyes at him. More splashing indicated a new salmonid, but a low horn sounded from the boat.

"Boss salmonid!" Astrid nonchalantly called to the group before the radio piped up again.

"Right on time!" Mr. Grizz spoke. "The most important part of your job here at Grizzco is to collect elusive golden eggs. These are only dropped by boss salmonids like the one that just appeared, so find it, hunt it down, and BRING ME THOSE EGGS!" The squad fanned out, looking for the elusive boss.

Finally getting a chance to break away from the group, Hiccup ran across the steel grated bridge and stopped at the top of the ramp leading to the ground. Standing there was a near jet-black salmonid that stood higher than a usual chum, but shorter than a cohock. It's scales glinted rainbow like an oil spill in the fading twilight, before it suddenly turned head and glared at Hiccup, startling him into a short gasp and sent him fumbling for the splattershot he'd grabbed from the boat. Before he could make a single shot, it dived back into the water with surprising grace as a stinger slowly emerged, pots clacking.

"This way!" Cory shouted from behind him. "Good find, Hiccup!" She cheered as Eight and Astrid followed, swimming in the ink trail she had left from her own gun. He finally gathered his wits and began shooting at the titanic salmonid beast, when it began shooting its sting ray at Eight.

"$*@!" The strange boy cursed as he swam in circles through the ink left by his teammates. As Hiccup and the rest of them downed the tall creature and grabbed its eggs, Astrid berated him.

"Hey, watch your mouth kid!"

"Sorry, Pea-" Eight cut himself off. "My friend swears a lot!" Before the strange boy could justify his slip up, another horn sounded and a steelhead emerged. Grizz's radio came to life once again as he explained the different boss salmonids.

"That first boss you lot took down was a stinger! Those slimy snipers managed to duplicate stingray technology, so they'll sit up on top of their towers taking cheap pot shots that can cut through walls. Once you're targeted they'll fire constantly at you until picking someone else, so chip away at them bit by bit until they hit their own boiler and pop!" Hiccup cringed at the morbid description as he swam away as quickly as he could from the giant salmonid chasing him. "That big gross thing is a steelhead." Grizz continued, "They're invincible and annoying until they charge their cluster bombs, which can take you out instantly if you aren't careful! Shoot at the bomb as it emerges to make it burst and kill the thing with it's own juices." Hiccup fell back as the others proceeded to do just as the radio told them, feeling nauseous at the horrid way his employers words were chosen. He could hear Cory shouting encouragement to the others as they filled the egg basket, cheering and switching between humanoid and squid rapidly, the quick _shlorp shlorp shlorp shlorp shlorp_ of half-formed ink marking the popular celebration. Glancing at the golden egg still strapped to his back, he made his way back over to the group, throwing the squishy glimmering object into the basket with the skill of a Lob-Stars player without arms.

It made it in eventually. Hiccup let Mr. Grizz's voice fade into the background as his mind wandered back to the black salmonid. 'Salmonids are out there to kill', his fathers words, echoed in his head. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Astrid shouted at the trainees.

"That's quota! Back to the boat!" Followed by the sound of everyone else super jumping back to the repurposed fishing vessel. Hiccup rushed to catch up, completely ignorant to the lone smallfry that hadn't yet retreated. Until it latched onto his leg, biting down hard.

He barely registered the concerned shouts of his name from the quickly retreating boat through the burning pain traveling even faster through his ink, slimy green salmonid saliva working its way into his system. He clenched his eyes shut as the offending smallfry let go as quickly as it came on, puncture wounds from its tiny teeth in a ring along his calf punched straight through his uniform, spots of its green slime dripping through his own orange. Clutching his leg and kneeling painfully on the inkstained metal, it was all he could do to keep from passing out to listen to Cory and Eight's voices get more and more distant...

He blacked out.


End file.
